Britain has a choice: Sink or swim, do or decline

David Cameron will today warn that Britain stands at a cross-roads, warning of an "hour of reckoning" and a stark choice of "do or decline".

In his keynote address to end the Conservative party conference, the Prime Minister will paint a picture of the country on the precipice, and renew his credentials as the man to drag the UK out of the economic mire.

In a speech that will also reject Labour's call for an economic Plan B, and touch on how his late father overcame disabilities to become a successful businesses man, he will say: "Unless we act. Unless we take difficult painful decisions, unless we show determination and imagination, Britain may not be in the future what it has been in the past, because the truth is this... We are in a global race today and that means an hour of reckoning for countries like ours. Sink or swim, do or decline."

His address comes a week after Labour leader Ed Miliband took the initiative at the Labour party conference following his speech-without-notes that laid claim to the Tory notion of "One Nation" politics. Mr Cameron will hit back by saying Labour's plan to borrow more money would be a "massive gamble with our economy and the future" and "squander the sacrifices we've already made".

The Prime Minister will also stake out the Conservatives as the party of "compassion" against claims it is cutting welfare to the worst off while offering tax cuts to the rich. He will say: "My mission from the day I became leader was, yes, to show the Conservative party is for everyone: North or South, black or white, straight or gay. But above all, to show that Conservative methods are not just the way we grow a strong economy, but the way we build a big society."

He will also claim the route out of the country's troubles involve principles that are "not complicated". "These are difficult times. We're being tested. How will we come through it? Hard work. Strong families. Taking responsibility. Serving others."